A Quietus

Hello Friends!

One of my dear friends is scheduled for brain surgery this week. She was supposed to have her surgery last week, but her neurosurgeon sprained his ankle badly and had to postpone the surgery for a week. Can you imagine going through the mental preparations for something like that, getting yourself "psyched up", and having it canceled the day before? Unbelievably stressful. She was understandably upset, in tears and distraught, not sure how she would be able to go through it again.

Fortunately, one of her best friends called her and invited her to go skiing. My friend refused, because she was busy at home in her pajamas, crying and scared to death of facing another week of anticipating this surgery. Even more fortunately, her friend is very strong and called back and simply told her to get ready, and she would pick her up in 20 minutes.

My friend went skiing and it completely changed her mindset. Talking with her after she got back, she sounded like a different person, and she was so glad she went.

Coincidentally, the word of the day on my iPhone app was:
quietus
-noun,plural-tus·es.
1. a finishing stroke; anything that effectually ends or settles: Having given a quietus to the argument, she left.
2. discharge or release from life.
3. a period of retirement or inactivity.

It seems that we often think that these times of rejuvenation, or removal from "activity" must be an event, large and/or final. What I'm learning is it doesn't have to be like that.

There's a fantastic metaphorical lesson from camel pose (ustrasana). The camel takes what it needs when it is available and stores it for later. Ustrasana teaches us about replenishing when we can, and saving up for the long haul and times when there isn't enough. Life requires stamina, which requires energy and judicious expenditures of that precious energy.

And this doesn't necessarily mean that you work yourself silly until your vacation. Back to the camel-- although the camel can consume up to 30 gallons of water in 13 minutes (a vacation if you will), it is also able to glean enough from winter desert plants for the camel to last weeks without water.

Life is a constant juggling act of responsibilities, activities, and energy exchange. Don't squander the opportunities for joy, play, time with loved ones and rest, even when they seem to brief to matter, or it seems challenging to take advantage of them. We need them to balance those times when we're "building character."

p.s. in the process of the time it took me to finish this letter, my friend has had her surgery and is doing amazingly well!

Warmly,

Liz Doyle
www.LizDoyleYoga.com
lizdoyle@msn.com